A Constant Visual Feast

When we talk about modern Greek cinema, we’re guaranteed to talk about two filmmakers in particular, being Yorgos Lanthimos and Athina Rachel Tsangari. (Aside: Tsangari is a much, much, better filmmaker than Lanthimos.) This is so true that even when we talk about other Greek filmmakers, like Babis Makridis, we’re still talking about Tsangari and Lanthimos, but in Makridis’ case that makes perfect sense: Efthymis Filippou not only wrote the screenplay for Makridis’ new film Pity, but the screenplays for Tsangari and Lanthimos’ most recent films, too, from Chevalier to The Lobster.

So Pity feels like a halfway point between the current faces of Greek cinema. Funny enough, when the film tilts closer to Tsangari, I like it. When it tilts closer to Lanthimos, I want to hit in the face with a shovel. This tension is the crux of my review of Pity, published at The Playlist as part of their Sundance 2018 coverage. (Again, not at Sundance, but boy do remote links help.)